What if?
by X5599
Summary: Two friends who meet after a long separation. I'm not good at these things, but please read and review.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own them. I'm just borrowing, so please don't sue for the 2 cents to my name.

He had not seen her for a long time now. Initially, after colonizing New Caprica he had been assigned as the President's new aid and had been sent to the surface on almost the first convoy. She had been reassigned to the Battlestar Pegasus as per request of Admiral Adama, who despite what most though was highly keen and active in his son's affairs. Then the Cylon's had invaded and imprisoned them on the surface of New Caprica thinking that rather than exterminating the human race they now wanted to control it. The fleet jumped away and left them defenseless only to jump back and stage a massive and brilliant coup with limited resources that destroyed the Cylon's on New Caprica and set them free. The humans quickly moved from New Caprica back onto the starships. The President, Dr. Gaius Baltar, was finally deemed insane and impeached. This was a huge shock for him who had always held Dr. Baltar on some sort of pedestal as the last remaining genius of the galaxy. Those notions were quickly dispelled however when he began serving as the President's aid and had the opportunity to witness first hand the nature of the man and not the genius.

President Galen Tyrol was sworn in as the third president of the new order. He was doing a successful job at bringing peace and justice back to the fleet. He had a strong sense for the working man since he himself originated from that class. His relationship with the Admiral was, of course, very tight knit and so that life aboard the Galactica, Pegasus and remaining ships in the fleet quickly returned to normal. Well, as normal as could be expected.

He happily returned to his post as Senior Officer of the Watch aboard the Galactica. He took comfort in the familiar beeps of the long-range sensors. His promotion to Captain just served as another normal day. There were not many who celebrated it, nor even mentioned it. He took comfort in the daily routine which brought him peace and a sense of order. However, whenever he would look up expecting to see a familiar face, he was still jarred by the new smiling hazel eyes of the blond that had taken Dualla's place. So, life continued aboard the Galactica, and so it would be a long time before Captain Felix Gaeta once again set eyes on Lieutenant Anastasia Dualla.

She had been asked to deliver an important message to the Admiral from his son. Her business aboard the Galactica did not mandate that she stay for more than an hour; however, Lee had given her a day's leave to revisit the Bucket, as they now affectionately called the Galactica. She welcomed the change of scenery as she needed time to think and was afraid that her face or eyes might give away too much if she did the thinking in front of the Commander of the Pegasus. Somehow she found herself in front of her old quarters where the Nerds and Brains of the Galactica resided, those soldiers that had never seen the inside of a cockpit but spent most of their time at the computers in the CIC. She walked in tentatively and sat down on one of the benches between the bunks. Closing her eyes, she drank in the atmosphere and waited for the answers to the next phase of her life, waited for illumination.

He walked from the adjoining shower room without really looking up. He was expecting everyone else to be at the CIC or at the mess hall as it was about dinner time and he had just finished working a 24 hour shift and had a few hours down time before he had to return back to his post. He heard someone stirred from the far bench, but as he was already behind his locker searching for his sweats he did not look up he merely muttered a quick, "I apologize I will be out of your way in a moment."

She recognized the voice immediately. She had often been ashamed to admit to anyone, even herself silently, how much she really missed their conversations. However, every day in the CIC of Pegasus she would look up expecting to see his familiar face and be met with only the strange glances of the crew, who she had become acquainted with well over the past few months but who still did not feel like family. "It's okay Gaeta," she said almost instantaneously, "take your time."

He dropped his suit on the floor and grabbed a hold of his towel before swinging the locker door closed slightly so that he could confirm that she was in fact smiling at him from her position on the bench. He knew that on normal circumstance he would have felt embarrassed at his lack of attire, but nothing in the past 2.5 years had been normal for them. They had seen each other often in such circumstances when they both resided in the same quarters and showered in the same showers, but then again they had not seen each other now for quite some time.

"Dee?" he says as she gets up from the stool and begins to walk toward him.

"Hey," Dee says coming to stand beside him and then unabashedly leans close and pulls him toward her for an embrace. He holds onto his towel with one hand for both security and disclosure.

"It's good to see you," he says not really being able to think of anything else. It was true. It was good to see his friend again.


End file.
